Rob McDonald

Chaylee Miller excels in school, especially in art. The 13-year-old is an honors student at Deer Park Middle School.

It's a refrain voters hear every election season: Schools need more money. Candidates promise more. Property owners get tapped for levies. And tax support rises steadily. The total per-student spending in the Spokane School District went up 25 percent in the last decade, when adjusted for inflation.

A van accident killed Tao Yong's two friends, ended his dance career and shattered his smile when 12 upper teeth were knocked out almost four years ago. A Spokane dentist couldn't help with the loss of friends or Tao's shattered left knee, but Dr. Chris Chaffin gave Tao a perfect smile – which will help the young man's new singing ambitions.

An $8.3 million federal grant will likely change how Spokane County schools reach students who are in danger of slipping away. Spokane Public Schools, in partnership with five other Spokane County school districts, was one of 24 applicants in the nation Wednesday to be awarded a "Safe Schools/Healthy Students" grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

WELLPINIT, Wash. – The recent deaths of two high school students inspired classmates in this Indian reservation community to draw upon traditional and modern teachings to cope with the tragedy. Students from Wellpinit School dug the graves and offered support and food, including freshly smoked deer meat. At the wake they shared their feelings.

Better late – even 26 days late – than never. Homeland Security laws delayed a Mexican exchange student's arrival at St. Charles Catholic School by almost four weeks.

Word spread fast among the school-age population in Deer Park about the crash late Friday night. Two well-known teens remained hospitalized in critical condition after the wreck, which police said was alcohol-related. On Monday, students at Deer Park High School talked about the three students involved in the accident, and school officials brought in an extra counselor to provide support.

A father organized a search that found his son's body Sunday in Coeur d'Alene after an official squad of searchers on air, land and water previously failed to find anything. The Coeur d'Alene Police had combed the wooded 135 acres on Tubbs Hill for Tyson Frazier last Monday. Searchers on horse, foot, motorcycle and ATVs didn't find the missing man whose car was discovered near Tubbs Hill with a suicide note inside. Two marine deputies had secured the shoreline and a helicopter crew saw nothing from the air.

Don't take this as a guilt trip, but your decision not to buy an elephant ear at the fair this year may end up costing a struggling student a college scholarship. Cold and rainy weather kept fair attendance below last year, which was a very bad year. Final estimates couldn't be determined until after the gates closed Sunday.

Freshman move-in day at Eastern Washington University took place Friday with a union conflict in the background. The union representing classified staff attempted to add pressure to upcoming negotiations with the university by holding a campus protest as freshmen moved into residence halls. Protests are planned throughout the weekend.

Grade-school students gasped when the man in the blue suit and orange tie said he worked for President George W. Bush. Then he jumped off the stage during Franklin Elementary's assembly Wednesday, which again caused murmurs. Then the man made his secret announcement – and that made the teachers and administrators take a breath.

Deanne Damm accepted that attending college after marrying young and starting a family would have been impossible. That was nearly 20 years ago. Through the years, as her oldest child entered kindergarten, Damm volunteered at her school and was eventually hired as an instructional assistant.

The day begins early for Shaw Middle School cafeteria manager Lynn Strahl. It's dark when a custodian opens the door for Strahl at 5:45 a.m.

While some parents scanned the bins of discounted school supplies at a north Spokane Target store Monday afternoon, many more spent a relaxing day outdoors with their family to ease into the new school year. The wild and long summer days end today for most students.

The numbers paint a bleak picture of East Central's Grant Elementary School. But figures can also lift a place like Grant higher than anyone dared hope as Wednesday's test score release proved.